Textile dyeing chemical processes contributes significantly to pollution and results in waste products that find their way into our rivers and oceans. This problem can be addressed through the use of natural dyes, and by educating consumers on how to develop these on their own, using local raw materials. In the future, even the materials themselves will be consumer-produced. This forges a closer relationship between consumers and products, leading to a more sustainability-conscious society. Could dyeing with bacteria be an alternative to chemical dyes? With BioShades we explore the potential of dyeing with bacteria as a less harmful alternative to the environment. BioShades is a project part of TCBL that aims to renew the European Textile & Clothing sector. We explore new ways to design, make, and work together for inventing new business models to open up new markets.

MASDA SPACE – BIOSHADES WORKSHOP – 15TH OF MARCH 2017

The TCBL event was organized in a distributed way, running in many Labs all over the world at the same time. In Barcelona, 22 participants gathered in Mazda Space and performed a global experiment following a live demonstration lead by the TextileLab Amsterdam. Participating TCBL labs were set up with an inventory that included petri plates, inoculation loops, prepared nutrient broth, sufficient sterilization and safety equipment, and a sample of natural textile like silk. The bacteria used is called Janthinobacterium lividum (violacein) and the medium of growth is agar and LB broth. Textile dyeing with bacteria is part of the Fabricademy classes content.

After an introduction into the days program and an overview of the previous research conducted, the participants were given instructions to fold or scrunch their silk samples – giving room for designers creativity and versatility of results.The samples were compiled and placed in an autoclave bag for 15 mins of sterilization, enough to kill off any previous microorganisms. Each sample was then placed in a sterile petri plate working within 10 cm of the Bunsen burner were the prepared LB broth was dispensed equally into each plate.Then each fabric was placed in a petri-dish, filled with LB broth medium and inoculated with the bacteria. Following this the plates were placed in the incubator with a temperature of 25ºC and left to colonize the fabric for 4-5 days. The unfolded results are as shown.

This year the team FabTextiles (Fab Lab Barcelona) of Anastasia Pistofidou and Clara Davis participated to the Maker Faire Barcelona 2017.

Maybe you are wondering what is a MakerFaire ? A Maker Faire is a world event gathering makers : creators, innovative craftsmans, inventors and engineers. This Maker Movement is about using technology, creating new ways to produce together, learning how to do it yourself for changing our industry. The first Maker Faire was established by Dale Dougherty, one of the creators of Make Magazine, in San Mateo, California, in 2006. The goal is to introduce to the people the latest inventions and innovations, to teach them how to do it themselves with workshops, to discuss with them about different topics and to allow makers to meet each other and share their knowledge.

FabTextiles showed but also shared. On their booth, they revealed to the public The secrets of bioplastic and gave the opportunity to learn how to do it yourself by distributing the recipe used for the Bioplastic Collection. Anastasia Pistofidou animated the discussion about embedding digital and Bio Technology in Fashion and Clara Davis gave two workshops : learn how to fold a stone paper origami hat and create your own jewelry with the bioplastic collection waste.